The present application is directed to improved apparatus and methods for controlling contamination of food products in a food processing environment. The apparatus and methods described herein maintain food quality and reduce the risk to the public from food-borne pathogens.
Although generally preventable, food-borne illness remains a serious problem in the United States. Contaminated food has been estimated to cause 76 million illnesses in the United States each year, including 325,000 cases resulting in hospitalization. The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology has estimated that food-borne diseases caused by the most common bacterial pathogens found in ready-to-eat (RTE) foods—Listeria monocytogens, Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli, Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus—may cause as many as 9,000 deaths each year. The present application discloses methods and systems that will benefit public health by eliminating or reducing food-borne pathogens from RTE foods.
Researchers and processors have been working for years on developing and implementing post-cook (post-process) lethality treatments for at-risk RTE meats. The industry has options for both pre- and post-packaging lethal treatments, including steam, hot water, radiant heat, and high-pressure processing. Application of steam surface pasteurization allows post-process lethality treatments to be achieved at a production line speed that is comparable to that of commercial packaging for RTE foods.
There is a continuing need for more efficient, more effective, and simplified methods and systems for treating the surface of a food product to kill and/or significantly reduce the growth of food-borne pathogens.